


unfold your wings as you fall

by afrocurl



Series: crack!bingo [3]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Crack, Erik Being Cocky, Gen, Honestly Charles What Are You Thinking, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-09
Updated: 2012-09-09
Packaged: 2017-11-13 21:48:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/508059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Working late in the bunker, Erik's attempting to do something he's never done before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	unfold your wings as you fall

**Author's Note:**

> One more piece for my crack!bingo card, this time _wingfic_ , though not in the normal way.
> 
> Title comes from a quote by Ray Bradbury. Thanks for chat and **firstlightofeos** for the support and beta work.

It wasn’t unusual for Charles to sense one active mind at three in the morning. Tonight, though, he wasn’t feeling the methodical order of Hank’s mind testing samples in the lab. This was the opposite: Erik’s carefully placed raged ebbing from the bunker.

Erik was hard at work, his mind carefully thinking through a series of complicated processes while metal hummed around him.

_What are you doing?_ Charles asked, wary of intruding.

_If you’re curious, why don’t you just come down and see?_ Erik shot back, annoyed at being disrupted.

_You’re lucky I’m not one to sleep much in the first place, and that you’re working so far from everyone else. Raven’s fond of her beauty sleep._

There was no response. Charles slowly rose from his bed, put on his robe and slippers and walked to the bunker, carefully avoiding jostling anything that would wake Hank.

He was still half-asleep when he arrived five minutes later. “What are you doing?” he asked again.

“Building,” Erik replied as a hammer hit against a piece of steel.

“What?”

“Wings.”

“Why?” Charles rubbed his temples, realizing that he was not nearly awake enough for this sort of conversation.

“I want to fly,” Erik answered.

“Why not just try to control the magnetic fields around your body? You already control them on a smaller scale with everything else.”

“I want the feel of wings against my back.”

“You’re not worried about Icarus?”

“I control metal; I think I can build wings that won’t melt as I get closer to the sun.”

“You wouldn’t know until you were too close and you fell to your death.” Charles huffed, annoyed at how stupid Erik could be at times.

“You think I couldn’t control a magnetic field as I fell then?”

“If you’re not practicing, I don’t know anything.”

Erik’s silent rebuff hung in the space for a moment. “This is why I was working at this hour. I wanted to avoid your ire.”

“Too bad you forgot that I don’t sleep.”

“Can you just let me be? I’m almost done and then we can see how they work tomorrow.”

“Fine.” Charles walked away, the sound of metal hitting metal echoed behind him as he went back to his rooms, hoping to catch a small nap before the house began to buzz with activity in three hours.

His room felt cold--oddly so--after the heat of the bunker, which prevented him from napping for as long as he’d have liked. When everyone else woke up, Charles rose again and showered to avoid looking like a complete disaster.

The kitchen buzzed with energy when he walked in, feeling slightly less dead than he had before, but not much.

“You look like hell,” Raven said as she held onto a large mixing bowl with one hand and a whisk in the other.

“Thank you, dear. Someone here kept me from my beauty sleep,” he said, throwing a pointed look in Erik’s direction.

“You didn’t have to come see me working,” Erik said. “It was your choice. Now you’re paying for it.”

“You’re horrible. I hope you’re ready to try that experiment later.”

“As soon as the eggs are done, I’m going to finish up. Shall we try them out after lunch?”

“Delightful.” Charles turned his attention away from Erik. “So, how much longer until breakfast is ready?”

In between bites of breakfast, Hank managed to get Erik to explain why he’d woken Charles in the middle of the night.

“You built metal wings?” Hank asked.

“I think I have. I still have a few more pieces to connect, but I should be flying later today.”

Sean looked over at Erik. “You’re going to fly?”

“Hopefully yes,” Erik replied.

“Good luck with that, man. You’re the worst at helping me.”

“That’s because you’ve been coddled until now.”

Raven broke in. “Ten bucks says Erik falls on his face.”

“Twenty,” Hank said, “and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Really, everyone? We’re betting on whether Erik will fail? Is that what you’ve learned from me this week?” Charles asked.

“No,” Alex answered, “but it’s certainly worth it after the _training session_ Erik had us do the other day.”

Charles gave Erik another pointed look before giving up. “I take no responsibility for what you all do with your money, but we’ll see how Erik does after lunch. Does that sound fair?”

“Gives me time to make the last-minute adjustments,” Erik said.

“Splendid.” Charles took one last forkful of eggs, leaving the plate for whoever was on cleaning duty.

-

Erik stood at the base of the satellite dish, looking up. “I’m ready,” he said to Charles, who stood at his side.

“Of course. Do you need help walking to the top?”

“No, I’m going to float the wings up and put them on up there.”

Charles watched Erik’s head slowly turn from left to right, surveying the landing at the top of dish. It took all of Charles’ control to not read Erik for any signs of nervousness, but this was not his dream, nor had it been his idea of Erik to use his mutation with props.

The wings, large and graceful, floated up as a set, Erik’s arm outstretched to guide them. A clink told Charles that they had landed safely before he watched Erik walk to the ladder and started up.

As if on cue, the rest of the team walked out from the back door before breaking out into a dash to arrive before Erik finished climbing.

“I’m still sayin’ he falls,” Alex said.

“Not before he tries to fly,” Sean said between small laughs.

“Alex, put your money where your mouth is,” Raven added.

“I’m not stupid, Raven. I don’t have twenty bucks to spare. Not all of us live here,” he said, arms spread wide to emphasize the scope of the Xavier estate.

“Will you all stop now?” Hank asked. “He’s about to jump.”

Everyone’s eyes drifted to the dish, staring at Erik as the metal wings stretched out behind him. Each flapped slowly, the joints creaking.

_Ready?_ Charles asked as he watched.

_Yes._

“He’s ready,” Charles told everyone around him. They watched as Erik took one foot off the landing, and then the other, letting his body fall against the air.

The wings stood still for a second as Erik’s body fell, but a moment later, they were moving in harmony, creating lift with each beat.

Charles gasped as he watched the wings in action, impressed that they could carry Erik’s weight. No sooner, though, had Charles thought Erik had succeeded, when a loud clank came from just under the dish.

“Told you,” Sean said.

“Not now, Sean. Hank, you have the First Aid Kit?” Charles asked.

“Of course,” Hank replied.

“Go see that Erik isn’t injured.” Charles looked at Hank. “I don’t want to hear anything from anyone else about this,” he said to everyone else.

“No fair!” Raven said.

“I don’t see you trying to do something not intrinsic to your mutation, Raven. Until you did, you will not belittle Erik for something he wanted to try.”

Charles heard Raven huff as he looked to Sean and Alex. “Gentlemen?” he asked.

“I got nothing,” Alex replied.

“Me either,” was Sean’s reply.

“Good. Now, I think everyone should go offer support to Erik right now. Gently, while Hank’s looking after him.” Charles watched as Alex, Raven and Sean all nodded before walking towards Hank and Erik.

As the three grew smaller in his view, Charles mentally sent a comment to Erik.

_What did I say about Icarus, my friend?_

He then followed the rest of his team, smiling at Erik’s attempted flight.


End file.
